Five Minutes.

Pheeewww. Need to take a 5 minutes breather. Been up and about since 6am. It was raining cats and dogs this morning, so ended up being stuck in the traffic for quite a bit in the CBD area after dropping Hubby to work. As traffic was really at a crawl, reached home late which resulted in Shafiq being late for his 9am Kumon class today. Thought of going to the market but just in the nick of time, heard on radio that Geylang Serai was flooded. Ended up doing my marketing in Giant at Parkway Parade instead. Finish marketing, pick up Shafiq, rush home to cook lunch (which is basically gonna be tonight’s dinner as well) and here I am!

My house is currently in a mess as I started my “spring cleaning” project. Need to clear away all the old stuff as we’re really running out of storage space. (maybe too much unnecessary purchase lately. Can’t help it!!! The Great Singapore Sale is on! :D) The good thing about "spring cleaning" is that you are finally able to find things/stuff that you thought you’ve lost. (In my case, things that has been misplaced by the maid!!!)

Have been offline for the past few days. Something wrong with our MacBook Pro. Just got it back last night. Apparently, the “logic board” needed to be replaced. Logic Board??? Huh??? That’s what Hubby told me. Anyway, I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t live without the internet. Not that I need to check my facebook constantly (nope, I’m not an fb junkie), or update my blog constantly (which I rarely do), but I realise that I just love surfing the net for anything and everything.

Looks like my 5 minutes break is over. Got to go and finish my “spring cleaning” project. My sister in law & her family will be coming over tonight. They’re driving down from KL to spend the weekend here, to check out the last few remaining days of the Great Singapore Sale. If I don’t finish my “spring cleaning” by this evening, there’s not going to be a guestroom available for them.

Bye for now. Have a great weekend!

p/s: Believe it or not, dragged Hubby to accompany me to Engelbert Humperdinck's concert at Singapore's Indoor Stadium last night. I bet many of you are in the dark about who in heavens is Engelbert Humperdinck. Well, he was my late Dad's favorite singer and I grew up listening to his songs. 

For a 74 year old guy, I think he's really cool and last night's performance was awesome. Hubby actually enjoyed himself despite his earlier grunts and complaints about having to accompany me to the concert. To my darling Hubby, thank you for accompanying me to the concert. Love you.

A Year On.

I've just realised something today. We officially passed the one year mark since the first day we arrived in Singapore last year (Actually we passed the one year mark a few weeks ago but yours truly just realized it today.)So much has happened since we left good old Hong Kong and made the move to Singapore. Life has been pretty good to us. (We also had our share of difficult moments but life has to go on.) Overall, it's been a fulfilling year.

Hubby's career is also going very well. In fact, he's changing job. He'll be joining Bank of America (BOA), again actually. I guess he had to move on to another bank (and another country, come to think of it!) to realize that his loyalty remains with Bank of America and no other bank can give him the job satisfaction he had with BOA. Luckily for him (and the family), the new position in BOA is based in Singapore, so we're pretty much staying put in this little island for quite some time. (from the look of things, probably indefinite.)

Shafiq told his Daddy that he's tired of moving from one country to another whenever Daddy changes job. I guess Shafiq is pretty much settled with his life here. He loves his school and his friends here. BOA actually offered Hubby a position in Hong Kong but Hubby told them that he does not want to relocate. Guess, Lady Luck was shining upon Hubby as there was an opening with BOA in Singapore. Come July 19th, Hubby will be officially back with BOA. (Hubby is so happy that he's counting the days! He really hates the current bank that he's attached to at the moment.)

We love Hong Kong, we really do. In fact, from time to time, we find ourselves missing our lives in Hong Kong. We've made some really good friends (friends for life, actually!) and our Hong Kong experience taught us that no matter where we are, as long as we're together as a family, that's all that really maters.

At this juncture of our lives, being in Singapore is the best decision that we've ever made. A Singaporean friend of mine (an old friend that I got reacquainted recently through Facebook) asked me why do we want to live in "boring" Singapore? Hong Kong is so much more "happening" and "interesting" according to her. 

Well, Hubby and I are not such a "happening" couple. We prefer the slower pace of life . (Hong Kong was quite hectic actually). Shafiq is getting a good education (our main priority at the moment) and Malaysia is just a bridge away, Johor that is. We still have to drive 3 hours plus to get back to Kuala Lumpur, which is what we've been doing almost once a month ever since we moved here. ( Imagine the mileage on our one year old car!)

My in-laws and my Mom are getting old, so it is important that we are just a few hours drive away. (Also it's good to be near and at the same time, not so near, if you guys understand what I'm saying. wink,wink...)

Singapore can get boring at times (After all, it's a pretty small country with nothing much to do besides Sentosa, Universal Studios not forgetting Orchard), but we're happy. Excellent education system, the country is so clean, building looks new all the time, good food (I have not once cook "nasi lemak" since we left Hong Kong and moved here. Can just get it anywhere. Halal meat is easily available. No more one hour train + cab ride to get our supply of Halal meat like when we were in Hong Kong (and that is only a one way trip!) Shafiq gets to learn the Quran & Islamic religious studies with a private tutor at home. Our family and friends in Malaysia gets to come and visit us in Singapore whenever they want to. 

A year on, I think I'm quite settled here in Singapore.

P/s: Today is a bittersweet day for my Mom. It's my parents wedding anniversary. If my Late Dad was still alive today, my parents will be celebrating their 37th wedding anniversary.

My Dad passed away nearly three years ago, six days after he celebrated his 63rd birthday. (one month after we moved to Hong Kong) Though he's no longer with us, he's always in my heart. I miss you Daddy. Al Fatihah.

Photos from our trip to Gold Coast. (Part 1)

It's a rainy morning here in Singapore. Perfect weather for just lying in bed doing basically nothing. (Wish I could but had some chores to run) Just got back home after doing some grocery shopping. Still thinking of what to cook for tonight's dinner. I don't have to worry about today's lunch as there's still leftovers from last night's dinner. Call me lazy or what not but lunch for Shafiq and me are usually leftovers from dinner the previous night. (The problem with me is that I don't know how to cook in small quantities, hence the usual leftovers. :D)

As it's still the school holidays here in Singapore, I get to spend some quality time with Shafiq. Currently, my baby is busy doing his Kumon worksheets. After finishing his Kumon, he's definitely going to be busy with his XBox 360. ( Just got the XBox from his Daddy for doing well in his weekly spelling and exams last term) Promised him that I'll take him to watch The Karate Kid later. In the meantime, let me share some pics from our recent trip to Gold Coast.

Our room at Holiday Inn in Surfers Paradise

The view from the balcony of our hotel room.

Our first destination: 

Shopping at Harbour Town (Brand Outlets Shopping Centre)

Shafiq posing outside KofteBurger, 

a Halal burger joint in Harbour Town.

Shafiq extremely excited with his Burger.

Shafiq and Daddy outside the entrance to Movie World.

An excited Daddy with Marilyn Monroe. :p

Us with Scooby Doo and the gang.

 

  

Hollywood Stunt Driver - A must watch at Movie World!

Shafiq and Mummy outside WB Kids

( another park inside Movie World with rides catered for 

family with small kids)

 

 

 

Shafiq had a blast going about the rides in WB Kids.

Shafiq and Daddy securing a bench to watch the Parade.

The Parade at Movie World.

(A bit of a let down, nothing much to see....)

Shafiq and Mummy outside "Superman Escape"

( A rollercoaster ride that travels from 0 - 100 km in just 2 seconds!)

We did not dare to attempt the ride.

Daddy and Shafiq in front of Batwing Spaceshot.

( A rapid 4.5G vertical launch up a 60 meter tower)

Did not attempt this ride either as the queue was too long

 and it was almost closing time.

After Movie World, had dinner at "Maharani",

a Malaysian Restaurant in Surfers Paradise.

(food not bad...)

The pics posted are from our Day 1 and Day 2 in Gold Coast. There's more but I've got log off for the time being. Shall upload more later.

Have a good day ahead you all!

Air Asia - What you pay is what you get!

Hi People. I’m finally back in my humble abode here in Singapore. Been away for nearly 12 days as the family went on a trip to Gold Coast (GC), Australia. After Gold Coast, spent a few days in Kuala Lumpur (KL) for some quality time with our extended family. No matter how much fun we had in GC and KL, I found myself missing my own home, my bed, my pillows, etc. (Hubby says he misses my cooking the most! ) Nothing makes you appreciate your own home more than being away from it for some time.

We planned the trip to GC last November when Air Asia had it’s “0” fare promotion. Not actually “0” fare as you eventually have to pay for the airport taxes, baggage allowance, meal, etc . Grand total = RM1,500 for the three of us.  (Still a very good purchase if you were to compare to the non budget airlines. )

It was our first long haul flight via a budget airline. Seats on the flight was okay. The only thing missing was free food , drinks, in flight entertainment, pillows, blankets, etc. (You can still have all those but it comes with additional cost.) As it was an 8 hours flight plus the air conditioning in the flight sucks big time (it was so hot, I wish I was in shorts and tshirt), we were so hot and  thirsty throughout the flight. We bought about 6 bottles of mineral water (yup, even normal drinking water/ mineral water is not free!) which cost us RM4 for a 500 ml bottle X 6 = RM24 (that’s for a one way trip plus another RM24 for the return trip) We spent a total of RM48 just to drink water on the flight.

(Please take note: Do not order Malaysian Cuisine if you’re flying from an overseas destination back to KL. Always order international meal. I had the nasi lemak on the flight back from GC to KL. The sambal ikan bilis tastes like tomato paste and don’t get me started on the rice!)

As for Air Asia’s flight attendants’ overall appearance with regards to their hair and facial makeup, they seriously need to go for some self grooming classes. (Air Asia’s flight attendants facial makeup looks like they’re getting ready to perform Chinese Opera!!!) Hubby says that the flight attendants of Air Asia are probably rejects of other airlines. (Got to say I agree with him)

But if you don’t mind air conditioning that does not work, flight attendants in short skirts with blond coloured hair/blond highlights with “hideous” make up and speaks atrocious English (in some cases, atrocious Malay as well) fly Air Asia. :D